Chapter 48

1400 (3)

“Asteroid?”

“Huh.”

Jirji said.

“Respect and gratitude. Well, maybe that’s it.”

Superhumans stuffed into the sky were great men worthy of respect and gratitude.

At lunchtime, there were still many people who looked up to the sky and commemorated the sacrifice of the superhumans.

Some prayed to the asteroid and worshiped it like a god.

“However.”

Jirji said.

It was something he wouldn’t normally add.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. It’s forever stuck in the sky like that.”

“Why?”

The great superhuman saved the world through sacrifice.

His sacrifice will go down in history, and people of his future generations will remember him forever.

Of course, that’s a good thing.

But there is nothing in the world that works perfectly well.

Whenever there is a positive effect, there is always a negative effect as well.

Superhumans feel a sense of reward when they see that asteroid.

In addition to the inherent sense of superiority and privilege, superhumans have changed the world, so they have the illusion that their actions should be tolerated.

For the powerless, it evokes a sense of inferiority and alienation for what they do not have.

Such a symbol is embedded in the middle of the sky, and you can see it with your eyes at any time of the year by raising your head high.

Jirji wondered if the asteroid could ever remain a good symbol for mankind.

Someday, there will be people who look at that asteroid and swear at it.

The asteroid may become a symbol of insult and injustice.

Forgetting the noble sacrifices of the great man.

“That’s right. Looking at the social atmosphere these days, I’m worried.”

As Jirji released one thing he had in his heart, he felt that his body had become a little lighter.

It was something he could say because the other person was Ho.

It was a story he couldn’t tell anyone else.

Probably, the moment it came out, it was clear that he would be socially dead.

People admired and loved the great man that stopped the asteroid, and they will be outraged by Jirji’s slanderous and degrading comments.

“That’s what a symbol is. Whether it’s negative or positive. That’s why …they want to … themselves.”

said Ho.

Ho’s words were not heard well.

Some words were drowned out by the sound of the wind.

The windows on the veranda were closed.

Jirji didn’t feel any discomfort or doubt about the kind words he had not heard.

* * *

“Noisy.”

“Oh, show me the invisible frog! Show us!”

It was a kid who returned.

Ho frowned.

If it had been just a few days ago, Jirji would have been startled and worried that Ho might attack the child.

“Look at this little bastard talking.”

However, Ho did not hit the child blindly, even though he would swear at the child.

It was difficult to say that he was desirable, but he was not a dangerous fiend to the child.

“If the favor continued, they had a right, didn’t you say so? Hey, did you leave the invisible frog? Huh? Did you leave it to me?”

Of course not hitting the child doesn’t mean that he wasn’t scared.

There is a saying that dogs recognize the dog breeders.

It is a story that no matter how ferocious a dog may be when a dog breeder appears, they instinctively feel fear and become terrified.

Jirji thought that was a very plausible statement.

You can tell by looking at Ho.

Oh, this bastard is crazy.

His screws are loose.

When our eyes meet, he gets that feeling.

It was too harsh an impression for a young child to bear.

The child started crying.

Ho suddenly panicked and tried to appease the child.

From the side view, it looked like a madman who couldn’t hold back his anger at all and grabbed the child and beat him.

Ho eventually gave up and summoned a frog to appease the child.

“Wow! Frog!”

The child immediately stopped crying and ran to the frog.

“This clever little boy. He must have pretended to cry.”

Ho murmured.

“No, you can make him cry a little bit. You’re driving people to the trash with this. Do you think it’s easy to soothe the child?”

“Who are you talking to?”

Ho was muttering to himself into the air.

He was a friend who talked to himself often.

But sometimes he felt like he wasn’t talking to himself.

It was just the same case.

He sounded like he was talking to someone, not to himself.

“Huh?”

“Because who are you talking to?”

Ho seemed a little perplexed.

Then, soon after, he found an excuse.

“Transparent Frog.”

“Keeek!”

The frog that was playing with the child roared.

The child was excited to see it.

“Say something that makes sense.”

Jirji was really curious.

On one occasion, he wondered if Ho was talking to someone through a small earphone, and he even looked into his ear.

Who is Ho really talking to?

Does he have any telepathic abilities?

Ho suddenly turned his head.

As he said earlier, Ho’s impression was not very good.

He wasn’t ugly, he wasn’t rough.

The color of the eyes had a great influence on his impression.

When Ho suddenly changed his face and adjusted his posture, Jirji was also nervous.

“Are you curious about the truth?”

Jirji swallowed his saliva and nodded his head.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just tell you the truth.”

“Why?”

“It’s too dangerous a truth. Truth comes with a price. You have to choose.”

What does that mean?

What kind of novel bullshit is this crazy guy talking about today?

Jirji thought so.

But Ho’s expression was even more serious.

“Come on, here’s the blue pill, and there’s the red pill. If you take the blue pill, the story ends here. You go back to your daily life, and you’ll continue to believe in what you believe now. But if you take the red pill, I’ll answer your questions. I’ll give it to you. I’ll reveal the hidden truth.”

There was neither the blue pill nor the red pill on Ho’s palm. (*a nod to the scene in the Ma*rix)

“What will you do?”

“Alright. If you don’t want to tell me, don’t. I don’t want to ask about something you don’t want to say.”

Jirji said so.

Inside, he had to feel a somewhat droopy sensation.

If Jirji really wanted the answer to the end, Ho would probably have given the answer.

Jirji knew the answer too.

No, he didn’t know exactly, but he was guessing.

However, he had a foreboding feeling that if he heard those words directly, Ho would leave him on that day.

“Hey, are you upset? Should I just tell you?”

“No, that’s fine”

“Ah, you bastard. What are you upset about, okay, I’ll tell you.”

“Because that’s fine!”

Jirji raised his voice.

“I’ll tell you. Actually, now, look. This is called an ego sword. He knows how to talk, so I talk to him sometimes. He knows how to use magic, and in fact, all the things the invisible frog has ever done were him. So every time you massage the frog, he gets a little jealous. He speaks like an ordinary old man, but he’s actually a little offended. He sometimes shows cuteness while acting unpleasant, and he calls himself the holy sword of the gods, but what they do is just a magic sword… Hey, where are you going?”

“F*** it.”

After the invisible frog was the talking magic sword.

Jirji got up from his seat and started walking.

Ho couldn’t chase after him because he had to remove the frog from the boy and summon it back.

Jirji had to feel complicated feelings.

He was upset, embarrassed, and a little angry.

He even thought it was a little bit lucky.

“It’s really true.”

Ho, who was following him, said with a smirk.

* * *

Two weeks have passed.

Another notice came from the association.

It was an official letter to participate in the general meeting of the Superhumans.

Another general meeting in two weeks.

“This is why I hate the end of the year.”

This was because meetings were held several times in a row during busy times when there were already a lot of incidents.

Jirji and Ho went to the conference room in simple attire.

Jirji regretted that fact a little.

He should come dressed a little extravagantly.

He came so comfortably.

No matter how much he was only watching the meeting from afar, he was dressed too freely.

Living with Ho, he wondered if he had been tainted by Ho.

“Hey, is that the invisible frog?”

“I heard it also had wings.”

Ho, who calls the invisible frog, has become a celebrity among superhumans.

The rising rookie received surprisingly excessive attention.

Jirji, who was right next to him, had to be exposed to that gaze as well.

Jirji was more shy because of his and Ho’s overly comfortable attire and entered the conference room faster than anyone else.

[Jirji Cantabia]

[Ho]

They were the only B-class superhumans involved in the rescue operation of the great superhuman Akaiden.

Rather than being proud of that fact, Jirji only thought that he had bad luck.

He could be killed if something was wrong.

“Haa, I don’t know.”

He couldn’t deny it either.

Akaiden was a sanctuary.

To be involved in the rescue operation was an honor, but if he refuses?

It was socially suicidal.

“Is that plan possible?”

Ho asked.

“I’m sure it’s possible.”

So, that’s probably why the agenda went so far.

But it will be dangerous.

What’s more, the association’s leadership will not give much importance to the B-class’s lives involved in the mission.

High-ranking superhumans of S-class or higher were also included, and each of them was an important source of national financial resources.

In the meantime, it didn’t seem like they would take special care of Jirji and Ho.

Jirji explained his thoughts to Ho.

Ho thought quietly for a while.

He said this again as if he was muttering.

“Okay, let’s go back now.”

“…what?”

Jirji asked, but Ho didn’t say anything.

The two returned home.

They didn’t feel like working at all.

Returning home, Ho said to Jirji.

I’m leaving now.

Jirji said he knew.

It was a far more lax answer than he had thought.

Somehow, he thought Ho was leaving today.

Maybe it was because he was thinking like that every day.

Jirji asked a few questions before Ho left.

Usually, it was always Ho who was questions and Jirji answering.

Today it was the opposite.

Ho answered all the questions with the utmost sincerity, as Jirji had done before.

Jirji couldn’t understand all the answers.

Unfortunately.

He couldn’t hear some words correctly.

He couldn’t even ask again about the word that had flowed away.

However, Jirji was able to properly understand what he wanted to know.

“Can I see you again?”

“I hope so, too.”

That was the last question.

With that answer, Ho left Jirji’s house.

With no luggage, he just popped out, just like when he first came in.

Jirji was left alone in the living room again.

For just a few dozen seconds, he felt the old loneliness again just by standing in the empty house.

Jirji went out to the veranda as if possessed by something.

He was going to watch Ho leave until the end.

Ho, who he thought was going to leave the housing complex and go to the main road, suddenly began to rise from the ground.

He looked so natural, like a bird or a flying insect.

Ho that floated in the air began to fly somewhere.

He was heading towards the asteroid in the night sky, which was reflected in the moonlight.

It was like a fairy tale scene.

The large moon, the asteroid, and Ho were seen overlapping each other in a row.

Yes, it was a fairy tale time, and he was a fairy tale friend.

One day, he suddenly appeared and joined him.

No one knew who it was, and no one revealed it.

He was a friend who wanted to learn about the world.

Jirji was also able to look around the world once more during that time.

The shape of Ho flying towards the asteroid is now a small dot and is invisible.

Jirji thought that Ho was going to return to where he originally belonged.

Even though he could no longer see Ho, Jirji stared at the asteroid for a long time.

That was then.

A powerful light burst from the asteroid.

Jirji just lost consciousness and collapsed.

* * *

A week has passed.

The rescue operation of the superhuman Akaiden was canceled.

It has been over a month since the asteroid’s anomaly occurred, but the cause is still unknown.

The asteroid suddenly radiated light, and everyone on the planet was stunned.

They passed out for at least five hours and then woke up.

It was something everyone on the planet went through.

Some said it was because the superhuman Akaiden was resurrected.

Conversely, some say it was because Akaiden was completely dead and the asteroid monster survived.

Only Jirji had a slightly different view.

The anomaly of that day occurred exactly at the same time that Ho left his home and flew towards the asteroid.

Jirji thought that the phenomenon had something to do with Ho.

Jirji paid a lot of money to buy a telescope.

Whenever he had time, he watched the asteroid through his telescope.

It was his new hobby.

It’s been a month since Ho left.

And he’s only been with Ho for two weeks.

But that time changed Jirji’s life a lot.

When Jirji was peering through the telescope, he didn’t feel as lonely, as it was like the two weeks he had spent with Ho.

The large asteroid was a delightful object to watch.

It was so big.

There are many curves and flaws, so even if he looks closely every day, he can find a new place every time.

As usual, looking at the asteroid and seeing a large rock for the first time, Jirji, feeling a sense of small achievement, was startled and had to take his eyes off the telescope.

On that asteroid, where no human could ever survive.

Jirji looked at the man’s face.

He even felt like he was making eye contact with himself as he was looking at an asteroid through the telescope.

Considering the distance between Jirji and that asteroid on the planet’s surface, it was absurd.

Jirji grabbed his thumping chest and came out.

He had nothing to do with it, and he walked out of the house like he was running away.

Jirji thought back to the human figure he had just seen.

It looked like.

It looked like some kind of girl.

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